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And a little scumbag shall lead them
By James Poniewozik
Did a sex-mad tabloid media hijack the public discourse in 1998? We should be so lucky
(12/22/98)

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BY SUSAN LEHMAN

"Firing Line," silky-voiced conservative legend William F. Buckley's long-running talk show, will cease broadcast at the end of this year. In a written statement, Buckley said the show, which has aired every week since 1965, will be discontinued "at the end of the millennium."

In response to a question about whether the conservative Olin Foundation, which funds "Firing Line," had withdrawn funds in response to Buckley's shift toward increasingly mainstream Republican thinking, Buckley wrote, "It is incorrect that [the program's] sponsor has withdrawn: The grant this year has in fact increased." James Piereson, executive director of the Olin Foundation, confirms that the organization has given the show $250,000 for the past seven years and that, at the last meeting, opted to jack the sum up to $300,000.

Asked why he's pulling the plug, Buckley, whose National Review magazine was for years the country's single most important organ of conservative thought, wrote, "At 34 years old, ["Firing Line"] is the longest-running television program on the air featuring the same host and he thinks that the millennium should give other aspirants a chance."

"Firing Line" was the prototype for all subsequent point-counterpoint shows, and viewers of different political stripes laud Buckley's ecumenical inclinations. "Buckley really believes that in order to convince, you have to debate and not just preach, which of course means risking the possibility that someone will beat you in debate," says Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol, adding that "not that many people could beat Buckley, of course." Kristol and others note that while "Firing Line" was one of Buckley's ways of introducing conservative ideas to a broad audience, he went out of his way to include other points of view. Michael Kinsley, for example, was a longtime "Firing Line" panelist. Buckley loyalists and detractors alike note that, after 34 years, the show had begun to run out of steam. Victor Navasky, Nation editor and natural Buckley adversary, says he wishes he could say, "'It's about time.' But I'll miss 'Firing Line.'" What will he miss? "Buckley's raised eyebrow, his sneering tone and his predictable, and sometimes eloquent, statements of his Neanderthal perspective."

Well-spoken Cro-Magnon and Java Man applicants for Buckley's position are welcome. Homo Erectus applicants are not being considered at this time (try the White House).

Slate editor jumps ship

U.S. News and World Report editor Steve Smith has been on a major hiring spree. The brightest star snagged thus far: Slate Washington editor Jodie Allen.

Allen, a veteran Washington Post editor who has been at Slate since its inception, will cover government and the political economy for U.S. News beginning Feb. 8. "I'll be a senior writer at U.S. News; I've gotten kind of tired of editing," says Allen. "I love Slate. I think it's a great product." Allen wistfully allows that after getting used to thinking in Internet terms, she may find it shocking to work with actual paper. Slate editor Michael Kinsley is on vacation and could not comment on Allen's departure or the search for a possible replacement.

A whole roster full of new faces joins Allen at the revamped U.S. News. David Marcus, the Boston Globe's diplomatic correspondent in Washington, will cover higher education; Chitra Ragavan, who covered the Justice Department and law enforcement for NPR, will cover both for U.S. News; Washington Times White House correspondent Warren Strobel signs on to the national security beat; National Journal writer Ben Wildavsky will cover education; Kim Clark, a commentator on NPR's "Marketplace," will write about money and markets; Wilson Quarterly editor Jay Tolson joins the magazine's ideas section. Michael Barone and Ed Pound are both returning to U.S. News after stints elsewhere; Barone returns as a columnist, Pound as a senior writer for investigations.

Pattern seekers will detect an effort to beef up the magazine's reportorial and investigative strength. "A well-rounded magazine ought to have a good mix of timeless pieces and stories about ideas and trends, but it also has to have reported stories and pieces that interpret the news. We're trying to run closer to the news than we had been," says editor Smith diplomatically, alluding to the notion that his predecessor, James Fallows, tipped U.S. News' balance toward opinion and think pieces. Smith and U.S. News owner Mort Zuckerman clearly hope the batch of hires lets the world know that, after the turbulence following Fallows' ouster, the magazine is up and running.

N E X T_ P A G E | The "solipsistic" Steven Brill